1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hinge for portable terminal suitable for use in portable terminals such as a cellular phone, a PHS, and a personal digital assistance (PDA).
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the function and performance of portable terminals are getting remarkably higher and the portable terminals are becoming more compact. Among them, as for a cellular phone, a PHS, and the like, in moduleicular, the following structure is becoming on the mainstream in order to realize when not in use the compact size, the protection of a display portion, and further, the prevention of the malfunction of a keyboard portion. That is, a first casing having the keyboard portion and a microphone thereon and a second casing having the display portion, a speaker, and a camera thereon are foldable via a hinge, with the keyboard portion and the display portion facing each other. In such a cellular phone, PHS, or the like, the display portion is formed to be vertically long so as to have a slim shape. However, now that the portable terminals are additionally equipped with various functions, for example, a downloaded movie display function and a television image display function, such a vertically long display portion is in some cases poor in visibility for those who are used to viewing a laterally long screen such as a screen of a television, a movie, a personal computer, or the like. Moreover, there has also arisen a problem such that, when information originally assumed to be displayed on a laterally long display portion is transmitted or inputted to a portable terminal having such a vertically long display portion, the information cannot be completely displayed thereon.
This has given rise to a need for a hinge that not only foldably couples the second casing to the first casing, but also allows the second casing to turn relative to the first casing in a direction right angle to an opening/closing direction when it is at a predetermined opening/closing position.
As a hinge having such a function, that described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-69676 is known.
The hinge described in this patent application publication is structured such that a circulation spindle module of a rotary hinge module that is pivotally attached to a bottom of a first casing is bent to be led to an upper end side of a second casing and an opening/closing hinge module coupled to the second casing is attached to an upper end portion of the circulation spindle module. This structure has such a problem that a lubricating oil especially in the rotary hinge module leaks outside to stain hands and clothes, and in addition, the structure of the entire hinge becomes large to occupy a large mounting space, which hinders the downsizing of the portable terminal.